(Reuters) -Spectris would accept a 3.73 billion pound ($5.06 billion) bid from Advent if the U.S. private equity firm tables a formal offer, it said on Monday, sending shares in the British scientific instruments maker soaring by 70%.
Advent’s proposal valued Spectris at 37.63 pounds per share, including dividend, representing close to an 85% premium to Spectris’s last closing price.
Spectris, in a statement confirming a Bloomberg News report, said it was ready to accept an offer at that price if Advent were to table a formal offer.
UK takeover rules require Advent to make a firm offer by July 7 or walk away.
Shares in the London-headquartered company jumped 70% to 33.84 pounds, their highest since March 2024.
Spectris is one of the largest takeover targets so far this year in Britain, which has been a hunting ground for buyers in recent years because of relatively cheap valuations.
The proposal announced on Monday followed a number of earlier approaches from Advent, Spectris said.
($1 = 0.7377 pounds)
(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu and Yadarisa Shabong in BengaluruEditing by Anil D’Silva and David Goodman)
